German rapper turned jihadist killed in Syria

A German former rapper who joined jihadists fighting in Syria has been killed in a suicide bombing carried out by rival fighters, jihadist sources said Tuesday.

Denis Mamadou Cuspert, who rapped under the name Deso Dogg but took on the name Abu Talha al-Almani in Syria, was reported to have been killed in a suicide attack Sunday in an eastern province.

He was a member of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and was reportedly killed in a double suicide bombing carried out by al-Nusra Front, a rival jihadist group that is al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate.

Messages posted on jihadist Internet forums announced his death.

"The Islamic nation is bleeding with the news of the martyrdom of the jihadist fighter, brother Abu Talha al-Almani. May he be accepted by God," one message read.

"His death is the result of a suicide bombing carried out by the traitorous soldiers of (Nusra chief Abu Mohammed al-) Jolani against a house in which a number of ISIS brothers were staying," it added.

Since early January, ISIS has been in open combat with al-Nusra and other Islamist rebel groups.

Both ISIS and al-Nusra have reportedly targeted each other with suicide attacks.

The role of Al-Almani -- Arabic for "The German" -- in Syria attracted widespread attention and he appeared in multiple videos and photos promoting the jihadist fight in Syria.

In September 2013, he was reported to have been wounded in a regime air strike on a home where he was staying.

Thousands of jihadists, including many from Western nations, have streamed into Syria to join the fight against President Bashar al-Assad.